


Belonging

by shinysylver



Category: Captain America (2011), Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-22
Updated: 2011-11-22
Packaged: 2017-10-26 10:23:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/281955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinysylver/pseuds/shinysylver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve should have known that spending Thanksgiving with Tony wouldn't exactly go as expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Belonging

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [Belonging/归属](https://archiveofourown.org/works/293569) by [soul200](https://archiveofourown.org/users/soul200/pseuds/soul200)



> I don't own any of the Marvel Universes. Not even one.
> 
> Thanks to [](http://somehowunbroken.livejournal.com/profile)[**somehowunbroken**](http://somehowunbroken.livejournal.com/) for the amazing beta work and encouragement she always gives me. This was inspired by [this prompt](http://capkink.livejournal.com/1973.html?thread=2058165#t2058165) at [](http://capkink.livejournal.com/profile)[**capkink**](http://capkink.livejournal.com/) although it didn't exactly stay on target.

“This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for Thanksgiving,” Tony said, scooping up a ladle full of thin brown gravy and sniffing it doubtfully.

Steve sighed. “Is it somehow beneath you to serve mashed potatoes for an hour? Would you rather slice the turkey?”

“Now that you mention it…yes,” Tony answered. He dropped the ladle back into the gravy with a splash and held his hand out for the carving knife.

“Fine,” Steve said, switching places with Tony. “Happy now?”

“Not really.” Tony poked at the turkey with the knife, completely ruining the even cuts Steve had been making. “I kidnapped you from SHIELD so that you wouldn’t have to spend Thanksgiving with Coulson eating a microwave turkey dinner and watching a Supernanny marathon, not so that we could spend the afternoon working at a soup kitchen.”

Steve ground his teeth and did his best to keep his voice even. “No, you _invited_ me to spend the holiday with you because Pepper went home to visit her family and you don’t want to be alone.”

When Tony didn’t respond, Steve glanced up and found him intently slicing the turkey into perfect pieces. “See, that’s not so hard, is it?”

Tony didn’t look up, keeping his eyes fixed on the bird. “I never said it was hard.”

It had been less than an hour since Tony had picked Steve up, but he was already tired of Tony’s flip attitude. “Then what’s your problem? Too rich to worry about the little people?”

Tony looked up at Steve, his eyes flashing. “Do you have any idea how much money I give this place every year? The Maria Stark Foundation practically runs it. ” He set down the knife. “I don’t know why I thought we could spend a holiday together without arguing. My mistake.”

Steve opened his mouth to apologize but Tony was out the door before he could figure out what to say. Ever since they’d met he had been clashing with Tony and he was starting to think that it was more his fault than Tony’s. Sure, the other man was a jerk most of the time, but Steve was used to jerks. In fact, many of his dearest friends during the war could be fondly referred to as jerks.

Steve handed the ladle off to another volunteer and followed Tony into the alley behind the soup kitchen.

“I’m sorry,” Steve said. “What I said back there was uncalled for.”

“It was,” Tony agreed.

Steve leaned against the wall opposite Tony, the silence between them oppressive. He looked around the alley, trying to find something to say, and was surprised to find something familiar about the buildings. “I think I got beat up here once.”

“What?” Tony asked, surprised.

“Everything looks different,” Steve pointed at the building behind Tony. “Did that used to be a movie theater?”

Tony glanced behind him. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Then, yes, I got beat up here once, or would have if Bucky--” Steve paused, swallowing around the lump in his throat that always formed at the thought of Bucky, “if Bucky hadn’t intervened.”

“It’s hard to imagine you getting beat up,” Tony said. “You know, by anything less than a juiced-up uber Nazi.”

“Juiced-up uber Nazi,” Steve repeated, a small smile tugging at his lips. “You do have a way with words, Tony.” He shook his head. “I hate to shatter the illusion, but I was beat up in most of the alleys in Brooklyn, at least three in Queens, and one or two in Manhattan. I was a mouthy kid with more guts than brains who couldn’t let anything go.”

Tony raised his eyebrow at Steve.

Steve laughed and held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, yes, sometimes I still have trouble letting things go.”

“Like that time I almost got you killed on our first mission? I did apologize for that,” Tony pointed out. “Three times. And I _never_ apologize for anything. Just ask Pepper…” Tony trailed off, grimacing. “Or maybe don’t ask Pepper.”

“Tony?” Steve asked his voice soft. “Pepper isn’t just visiting her family, is she?”

“No,” Tony said. He ran his hands through his hair. “She couldn’t handle all this…couldn’t handle me.” He cleared his throat. “But she’s going to be back in a few weeks to run the company, and that’s the important part, right?”

Steve didn’t answer. He crossed the alley and clasped Tony on the shoulder. “Why don’t we go back in there and serve some dinner, then we can go back to your place and have our own?”

Tony nodded and followed Steve back into the kitchen where they put on gloves and rejoined the serving line.

“So why is this so important to you?” Tony asked as he scooped mashed potatoes onto plates. “Is it just your Boy Scout training?”

“I grew up during the Depression,” Steve said quietly. He smiled and handed a little boy a roll before turning to look at Tony. “My mom tried her best, but without the soup kitchens we wouldn’t have made it.”

“Sometimes it's easy to forget how old you are,” Tony said.

“I don’t feel old,” Steve said. He heard a beep and looked over to find Tony checking his cell phone, his fingers a blur on the tiny keypad despite the latex gloves. “Well, sometimes I do.”

Tony glanced up and saw Steve staring at his phone. “It’s not as hard as you think it is.”

Steve shook his head. “I still keep expecting the operator to connect my call. You’re lucky that I can use my phone at all.”

Tony snapped his phone shut and shoved it back into his pocket. “Do you think we’ve been here long enough to assuage your conscience? And if not, do you think a donation on the way out would help?”

“I’m sure they would love a donation,” Steve replied. “What’s going on?”

“Fury and Natasha finally left headquarters,” Tony said.

“So?” Steve asked.

“I asked Fury if I could spring Bruce for the night too,” Tony explained, “but he claimed that Bruce is too unstable to be out unsupervised. Unsupervised my ass. If Iron Man and Captain America can’t supervise Bruce then who can?”

“He might have a point about the Hulk,” Steve said.

Tony waved a hand dismissively. “Bruce has more control in his little finger than most SHIELD agents have in their entire hand--their arms even. I’m pretty sure Fury’s just trying to piss me off.”

“He doesn’t like you very much,” Steve agreed.

“The feeling's mutual,” Tony muttered. “Anyway, the poor guy has been stuck in SHIELD custody for months; he deserves a night out with decent food.”

“The food isn’t that bad,” Steve protested.

“Compared to C rations, I’m sure it’s amazing,” Tony agreed. “But just because the war ruined your palate doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t have more refined tastes.” He smiled at Steve. “Trust me; tonight you are going to eat the most amazing food of your life.”

“And you really want me to help you break Bruce out of SHIELD so that he can have turkey with us?” Steve asked. “Despite the fact that it is against every single rule and regulation?”

“Yes,” Tony replied. “It’s the right thing to do.” He smirked at Steve. “You might even say it’s the American thing to do.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “And you’re sure you can?”

“Am I sure I can?” Tony scoffed. “SHIELD bought most of their tech from me. I can get in and out faster than you could send a text message on your brand new phone.”

“That’s not exactly an impressive time,” Steve said. “I think it actually took me half an hour to send the last one.”

Tony laughed. “Come on Steve, are you going to help me or not?”

Steve nodded slowly. “I guess could drive the getaway car, but just because it’s Thanksgiving and Bruce should be with friends.”

Tony frowned at Steve. “Do you even have a license?”

“It’s expired,” Steve said dryly.

Tony sighed. “Okay, fine, but if you crash my car then I get your shield.”

**

Steve caressed the wheel of the Rolls-Royce while he waited outside of SHIELD headquarters. Tony had reluctantly given him the keys to the car before he left, muttering something about wishing that Happy wasn’t on vacation.

The Rolls Royce didn’t have anything on his motorcycle--nothing could beat the wind against his face--but it was pretty awesome as far as cars went. They hadn’t had anything like this back in 1940, that was for sure. When Steve had first realized that he was truly in the future, he had been surprised that cars weren’t flying; after all, Howard had been so sure that was the future. Steve would rather stay on the ground anyway.

The backdoor flew open and Tony hustled Bruce _and_ Thor into the back seat before sliding into the passenger seat. “Go! Go!”

Steve threw the car in gear and peeled out of the parking spot. As he turned the corner he saw Coulson and Barton running down the steps. “Tony,” he said, keeping his voice as calm as possible. “I thought you were going to be in and out with no one the wiser?”

“Unforeseen circumstances,” Tony said. He pointed at a side street. “Turn here. We need to shake any tails.”

Steve turned the wheel sharply, barely managing to avoid scraping the curb. “You do realize that they know where you live, right?”

“They can’t get into the tower,” Tony said with enough confidence that Steve almost believed him. “Not without causing a major incident, at least.”

Bruce leaned forward. “You really didn’t have to do this on my account.”

“Of course we did,” Tony said. He turned around and looked behind him. “Thor, do you think you can keep Mjolnir from jabbing me through the seat?”

“I am sorry, Tony.” Thor shuffled around awkwardly. “Is that better?”

“Much. Although I don’t know why you had to bring it to Thanksgiving dinner in the first place,” Tony said. “It’s not like anyone can steal it.”

“That case you are carrying with you contains the Iron Man, yes?” Thor asked.

“Point taken,” Tony said, pulling his metal case closer to him. “But I did leave it in the car at the soup kitchen. Didn’t I, Steve?”

Steve ignored Tony, instead glancing in the review and smiling. “Hello, Bruce, Thor, I’m sorry I can’t greet you properly at the moment.”

“It’s okay,” Thor said clapping a heavy hand on Steve’s shoulder. “You must drive this car. It seems like a rather difficult form of transportation. I much prefer horses.”

“It’s not so bad,” Steve said, glad that for once he wasn’t the most out of place person in the car. “Although I like motorcycles better.”

“I usually just hitchhike,” Bruce said as he turned to look out the back window. “I think you’re good. We aren’t being followed.”

“How do you know?” Tony asked.

Bruce turned back around. “If there is one thing I know, it’s how to avoid capture.”

Tony laughed. “I guess you do at that.”

Steve slowed down for the last few blocks to Stark Tower and carefully parked the car. “See, I drive better than you.”

Tony frowned at him, before getting out of the car. “I’d like to see you drive a race car.”

Bruce turned around. “Didn’t you crash in a race? I could have sworn I saw that on the news.”

“I did not ‘crash’ the car,” Tony said, making air quotes. “Vanko destroyed the car. There is a difference.”

Bruce shrugged. “If you say so.”

Tony sighed heavily. “Can we take the mock Tony session upstairs before Coulson shows up and joins in?”

“Maybe we should wait, I bet he has some good stories to contribute,” Steve teased.

Tony turned resolutely away from Steve and walked over to the elevator. Thankfully it was a special elevator that led directly to the penthouse, because Steve didn’t really want to explain Mjolnir to anyone at the moment.

“Are you sure this elevator is going to hold us all?” Bruce asked, shifting around to make room for Thor.

“There are only four of us,” Tony said. “I think an elevator can handle four people.”

“Asgardians do weigh considerably more than Midgardians,” Thor said, trying to scrunch into a corner. “And this is a small elevator.”

Tony pressed the button. “It’s fine.”

Steve glared at Tony when elevator jerked and shuddered before it began moving up.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Tony said. “I reinforced this elevator to carry two people wearing iron Hulkbuster suits.” He looked at Bruce. “Sorry.”

Bruce shrugged. “That suit was barely more than an annoyance.”

Tony gave Bruce a pained look.

“If you built it then I’m sure it is fine,” Thor rumbled. “You are truly a wizard when it comes to technology.”

Tony smiled brightly at Thor before turning back to Steve. “See? Somebody appreciates me.”

Steve smiled at Tony. “He appreciates you almost as much as you do.”

Tony laughed and patted Steve’s shoulder. “There is a lot to appreciate.”

Steve shook his head. “You’re impossible.”

The elevator came to a stop, and as the doors opened, Steve was hit by a nearly overwhelming aroma of roast turkey and spices. “Wow,” he said, walking into the room and seeing a long table set up with more food than they could possibly eat. “Tony? How many people are you expecting?”

“Just the three of you,” Tony said. “Actually, I wasn’t expecting Thor, but I think we have enough anyway.”

“I’d say so,” Steve said, counting at least three turkeys.

“This, my friend, is a feast worthy of Asgard,” Thor said, thumping Tony on the back. “If only Volstagg could see this spread. Of course, if Volstagg were here, we would need at least five more turkeys.”

Steve blinked at Thor but decided he didn’t want an explanation.

Tony set down his case and gestured at the table. “I’m not big on tradition, so feel free to dig in. The cook went home as soon as everything was ready, so it’s just us.”

Thor and Bruce moved forward and grabbed plates but Steve hung back with Tony. “This is nice of you.”

“My mother used to love Thanksgiving,” Tony said as he watched Thor rip a leg off of one of the turkeys. “She used to invite everyone—friends, family, servants—at Thanksgiving everyone was welcome at her table. It’s been a lonely holiday without her.”

“She sounds like she was a remarkable woman.”

“She was,” Tony agreed. “I never understood what she saw in my father.”

Steve’s first instinct was to defend Howard. They had been friends, but he knew that Tony’s experience with his father was different than Steve’s. “My father was an alcoholic,” Steve said instead. “Once he lost his job he turned to the bottle. My mother had to hold us all together.”

Tony turned to look at Steve, compassion clear in his face, which was for once unguarded. “Come on, let’s eat, and raise a glass in thanks to our mothers.”

Steve nodded and followed Tony to the table. He couldn’t decide what he wanted to eat so he put some of everything on his plate and sat down next to Tony.

“I can’t remember the last time I ate like this,” Bruce said, dipping a roll in gravy.

“I don’t think I ever have,” Steve said. He elbowed Tony. “This is quite a bit better than a C ration.”

Tony laughed. “Doesn’t take much.”

“What’s a C ration?” Thor asked around a mouthful of turkey.

Tony waved him off. “It’s not important.”

Once he was almost done with his first plate, Steve looked around the table at his new friends. “It was always tradition in my family to go around the table and share something that we're thankful for and I would just like to say I'm thankful that I have a place to go for Thanksgiving.” He looked at Tony. “This is a strange new world but I’m glad for new friends.”

Tony met his eyes for a moment before raising his glass. “I’m thankful for second chances, because heaven knows I’ve needed plenty of them this year.”

Steve laughed. “What about you, Thor?”

“I’m thankful to have met my dear Jane Foster,” Thor said, a goofy smile crossing his face. “I only wish she could be here today.”

“Where is Jane?” Steve asked. “The last I heard you were spending the holiday with her family.”

“There was an anomaly in her data and she is cloistered in her lab,” Thor shook his head fondly. “She is brilliant, my Jane.”

“She kicked you out, didn’t she?” Tony asked.

Thor laughed, a deep rumbling sound, and nodded. “Told me not to bother her for at least a day.”

“What about you, Bruce?” Steve asked, looking at the quietest member of their group.

Bruce pushed a piece of turkey around his plate. “I’m thankful that I don’t have to hide.”

“Well, I’m glad you weren’t actually trying to hide,” Coulson said from the elevator, “because you didn’t do a very good job of it.”

Steve jerked around and saw Coulson and Barton standing in the entry way. He elbowed Tony, hard. “I thought you said there was no way they could get in?”

“I obviously need to redo my security,” Tony murmured darkly before standing up and holding his arms out in welcome. “You’re just in time for dinner, gentlemen. We still have plenty of food,” he paused and glanced down the table, “even though the Lord Thor seems to have eaten two of the turkeys all by himself.”

Thor grinned. “They were excellent.”

“We aren’t here for food, Stark,” Coulson said. “You know that the Hulk isn’t supposed to leave SHIELD headquarters without express permission from Fury. We're here to escort him back immediately.”

“I dunno, boss,” Barton said, his eyes fixed on the food. “We might as well eat since we’re here already.” He pointed at Bruce. “Besides, he looks fine to me.”

Coulson gave Barton a long look. “Fine, I guess we can let him finish his dinner before we take him in.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Tony asked.

“You have no idea,” Coulson replied, taking a seat as far away from Tony as he could get.

Steve grabbed Tony’s sleeve and pulled him back down into his seat before he said anything that would get him in trouble. “Be nice to the man who can arrest us.”

“No one is going to arrest Captain America,” Tony scoffed.

“Maybe not, but I don’t think it would take much for him to arrest you,” Steve said.

“Point taken,” Tony said softly. He cleared his throat and raised his glass. “I would like to make a toast. To the Avengers.”

“To the Avengers,” Steve repeated raising his own glass.

Everyone else quickly followed suit, even a reluctant Coulson. “To the Avengers.”

Tony set down his glass and looked at Steve. "Aren't you going to eat your yams?"

Steve looked down at his plate. "I don't like yams."

"Then why did you get them?" Tony asked, taking one off of Steve's plate.

"Because they were there?" Steve replied.

Tony shook his head at Steve and turned to talk to Thor. Steve glanced down the table and watched Coulson and Barton dig into their food.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Bruce asked.

"What?"

"Belonging," Bruce replied.

"Yeah," Steve said, looking around table at his new friends. "Yeah, it is."


End file.
